Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Whales make great Nautical Decor!

Whale décor is popular with Nautical minded people!

Whales are fascinating mammals.I researched them several years ago when I
became interested in carving one.I was
inspired by a trip I made to the San Francisco Maritime Museum. And a whale
watching trip to Bar Harbor Maine.

On our whale watching trip we took a boat out to where
whales “hang out”.The sea was like a
lake, hardly a ripple.The whales came
to say hello!They were humpbacks!They bobbed and flipped and put on a real
show.

Whales grow to 110 feet and weigh up to 150 tons.You don’t need one to step on your toe,
that’s for sure.

The first whale I carved was a sperm whale.I liked the shape and their size—they are one
of the largest whale and can also dive deeper than any other whale—diving over
9000 feet in pursuit of prey.They are
now protected due to the over hunting by whalers in the 1800’s.Here is a photo of the whale I carved. "He" is a little smaller than a full size humpback. My whale is about 40 inches wide and weighs about 12 pounds.

After a few trips to the San Juan Islands in Washington
State, I decided to carve Orca Whales.These whales have beautiful form and coloring. They have a tall dorsal fin and a black
back, white chest and sides, and a white patch above and behind the eye.
They are also called Killer whales but are actually more closely related to
other dolphins than to whales.

Here are the photos of the Orca whale signs

Recently I was hired by Baleena Bay Pewter
Company to do a sign for them.I
designed a double sided sign with their name on each side and my sperm whale
carving on each side too.I think it
turned out pretty good!